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And many people don't realize as well that only top-tier publishers actually staff or hire 'professional' editors. A lot of the books you'll find from 'real' p

And many people don't realize as well that only top-tier publishers actually staff or hire 'professional' editors. A lot of the books you'll find from 'real' publishing companies are just peer-edited by a group of people who were told they'd get their name stamped in the imprint if they read through an advance copy. Not much better than self-editing, but still...

derefr 5y ago
Also, 'professional' editors are, at most, just people who've attended a one-year degree program. (And probably not one that's anywhere as thorough as you'd imagine.) A friend of mine attended, and passed, such a degree program, from a respected university; they learned basically nothing from it. And the piece of paper did nothing to help them become an editor, either; people seem to do just as well getting editing gigs with no degree at all. Which means, more than likely, no particular education in editing at all!
- LegitShady 5y ago
  >Also, 'professional' editors are, at most, just people who've attended a one-year degree program I don't think this is true of people who work for the big publishing houses. I've watched podcasts talking about it - there's a lot of fancy school names and knowing the right people involved, but 1 year programs aren't really whats going on there.
- jeffwass 5y ago
  That’s not true at all. I know someone whose an editor-in-chief at an imprint of one of the major publishing houses. He majored in English as an undergraduate at a major university and has worked in the field as an editor for twenty years.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- burkaman 5y ago
  This is obviously not true, but also why would it matter? Is it not possible to be a "professional" without a degree? If I were looking for a professional editor I don't think it would even cross my mind to ask what degree they have, I'd be wondering how long have they been doing it, what have they published, how do authors describe working with them, etc. There's no magic to editing, it's obviously a skillset that can be learned outside of school.

derefr 5y ago

Also, 'professional' editors are, at most, just people who've attended a one-year degree program. (And probably not one that's anywhere as thorough as you'd imagine.) A friend of mine attended, and passed, such a degree program, from a respected university; they learned basically nothing from it. And the piece of paper did nothing to help them become an editor, either; people seem to do just as well getting editing gigs with no degree at all. Which means, more than likely, no particular education in editing at all!

LegitShady 5y ago
>Also, 'professional' editors are, at most, just people who've attended a one-year degree program I don't think this is true of people who work for the big publishing houses. I've watched podcasts talking about it - there's a lot of fancy school names and knowing the right people involved, but 1 year programs aren't really whats going on there.
jeffwass 5y ago
That’s not true at all. I know someone whose an editor-in-chief at an imprint of one of the major publishing houses. He majored in English as an undergraduate at a major university and has worked in the field as an editor for twenty years.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
burkaman 5y ago
This is obviously not true, but also why would it matter? Is it not possible to be a "professional" without a degree? If I were looking for a professional editor I don't think it would even cross my mind to ask what degree they have, I'd be wondering how long have they been doing it, what have they published, how do authors describe working with them, etc. There's no magic to editing, it's obviously a skillset that can be learned outside of school.